1. no pass rush; olson or whatever this nobody's name is wasn't touched all day long.

2. no f*cking running game. when we really needed to use up clock in 3Q, we got nothing, once again. I've been a maroney supporter all along but I'm done with this clown. Trade him for a sack of used jockstraps.

3. merriweather's stupid taunting penalty was the frosting on the cake. Bet the house that its going to come back to haunt us at the end of the season.

Brady is not there yet. He had open receivers today. At times however, the balls just weren't there. When was the last time a pats fan said that (no don't say last week- you know what I mean).Posted by underdogg

Brady misses Moss deep when he was wide open. Patriots settle for a field goal

Gostowski misses from 40 yards out

Linebacker tips another Orton pass in the air; Wilhite knocks the ball away from Springs and Merriweather, and Denver comes up with the catch

Royal fumbles a punt, but the Patriots form a pig pile and give up another 6 yards on the recovery

Brady misses Moss on 3rd down on the opening drive of the second half

Brady misses Welker wide open with nothing but green space ahead of him on 3rd down.

Defense lined up offsides on 3rd and 8, gives the Broncos 5 yards closer on the kick.

Springs got two arms on the final fade play before the game-winning kick.

Not to mention a million missed tackles...

I also can't help but think that those two dumb plays on the Denver punt return team were lost opportunities. It's like they wanted the Patriots to sustain a drive, and yet the offense did everything to get back to those warm, heated plastic benches.

Two very simple reasons; 1. no pass rush; olson or whatever this nobody's name is wasn't touched all day long. 2. no f*cking running game. when we really needed to use up clock in 3Q, we got nothing, once again. I've been a maroney supporter all along but I'm done with this clown. Trade him for a sack of used jockstraps. 3. merriweather's stupid taunting penalty was the frosting on the cake. Bet the house that its going to come back to haunt us at the end of the season. This was a very winnable game that we just flat out gave away. Posted by unclealfie

LOL! First you can spell now you can't count...LOL! You sir are definitely in the lower, lower section of the 62% uneducated Rush listeners....LOL!

The taunting penalty? The flag came out before he did anything. Go watch the replay. The broadcast crew brought that up during the replay. They took a guess that it was a pass interference flag, but it was negated by the tip of the pass by a defender. They also said sarcastically that maybe the ref was clairvoyant & knew that Merriweather was going to do it, so he threw the flag while Merriweather was getting off the ground, & before he said anything. It was a major gaff anyway you look at it. Tight games can be affected by blown calls. The fumble recovery that wasn't, inside the Bronco 10 yard line by the Patriots, is an example.

I could care less about the botched calls the refs made (2 fumbles and two penalties). The Patriots had plenty of chances to win and blew it.

I also see every time that the Patriots didn't play press coverage on the Broncos as lost opportunities because the pass rush couldn't get there before Orton's quick passes. Orton hasn't been known to have accuracy/power when going deep, so the Pats should have taken that away, too.

The taunting penalty? The flag came out before he did anything. Go watch the replay. The broadcast crew brought that up during the replay. They took a guess that it was a pass interference flag, but it was negated by the tip of the pass by a defender. They also said sarcastically that maybe the ref was clairvoyant & knew that Merriweather was going to do it, so he threw the flag while Merriweather was getting off the ground, & before he said anything. It was a major gaff anyway you look at it. Tight games can be affected by blown calls. The fumble recovery that wasn't, inside the Bronco 10 yard line by the Patriots, is an example.Posted by passedball

Who cares. That play was taunting. I don't care if they threw it before the play started. Meriweather plays tough . . . and he should leave it at that.

The reason NE lost today is the offense.

I will take 17 points in four quarters EVERY TIME. That is a top five defense on most seasons.

NE didn't move the ball AT ALL in the second half. That is inexcusable. The defense came up with HUGE stops in that game, but you can only rely on a defense so many times before the opponent figures something out.

Part of this has something to do with Light leaving, because that whole drive was essentially deep-sixed as they went into some wierd protection mode, and ran the ball every time.

No the defense didn't have its best day, but being realistic, when your offense can only score 17 points, you shouldn't expect to win. You can hope, but if you expect you are going to be let down often.

Ninkovich bats an Orton pass 30 feet in the air; Marshall manages to break free unscathed and tip the ball away Brady misses Moss deep when he was wide open. Patriots settle for a field goal Gostowski misses from 40 yards out Linebacker tips another Orton pass in the air; Wilhite knocks the ball away from Springs and Merriweather, and Denver comes up with the catch Royal fumbles a punt, but the Patriots form a pig pile and give up another 6 yards on the recovery Brady misses Moss on 3rd down on the opening drive of the second half Brady misses Welker wide open with nothing but green space ahead of him on 3rd down. Defense lined up offsides on 3rd and 8, gives the Broncos 5 yards closer on the kick. Springs got two arms on the final fade play before the game-winning kick. Not to mention a million missed tackles... I also can't help but think that those two dumb plays on the Denver punt return team were lost opportunities. It's like they wanted the Patriots to sustain a drive, and yet the offense did everything to get back to those warm, heated plastic benches.Posted by NickC1188

Don't forget the other errant throws by Brady like the pass he made Welker jump for on third down that allowed champ to get his hand in on and deflect away.

Two very simple reasons; 1. no pass rush; olson or whatever this nobody's name is wasn't touched all day long. 2. no f*cking running game. when we really needed to use up clock in 3Q, we got nothing, once again. I've been a maroney supporter all along but I'm done with this clown. Trade him for a sack of used jockstraps. 3. merriweather's stupid taunting penalty was the frosting on the cake. Bet the house that its going to come back to haunt us at the end of the season. This was a very winnable game that we just flat out gave away. Posted by unclealfie

Running game:

3.6ypc on 27 carries for 96 yards. Not great, but serviceable

Brady was 19/33 for 200 yds, but missed two touchdown passes.

Merriweather's taunting penalty was no different than Eddie Royal after every catch today. It was a terrible call, especially because the ref threw the flag BEFORE Merriweather even got up.

I think the momentum really turned on the ridiculous taunting call, that was clearly made up in a CYA move by the refs. In anycase the Patriots had there chances and they did come through.

This may just be my imagination, but I found the commentating by Simms to be so over the top, "I'm routing for the Broncos", that I finally had to mute the sound. It is irritating to try and focus on a game when the announcers are biased. This has been a Simms trademark I really think he hates the Patriots in which case he should not be allowed to cover the game.

It's funny sonie when the defense loses the game (last SB) it''s clearly Pees' fault, but when the offense puts up 500+ points during the regular season BB is, all of a sudden an offensive guru. You can't have it both ways. O Brien may be at fault, but you win as coaching staff; you lose as coaching staff. Somewhere along the line losing coaching talent matters. Everyone talks about the big player losses (willie mac, Asante etc...), but no one really discusses the coaching losses nearly as much...that has to matter. Not jumping ship by any means just pointing the reality. Brady just isn't playing well and Pass Mc D maybe a good QB coach.

Bad offense,bad defense,bad special teams,bad coaching and bad luck. The most critical was the conservative play calling. The Broncos picked us apart for 7 to 12 yd passes all day. Hardly a blitz from us. It looked like we were in a prevent defense for the entire game.

Typical game at Mile High - flat, with no emotion. Everything looks soooo predictable on both sides of the ball. I hate to think what Peyton is going to do to the Pats if they can't muster a decent pass rush.

Guess the Matt Light haters are going to see if Sea Bass is up to the challenge. Let's hope he's a quick study.

Who cares. That play was taunting. I don't care if they threw it before the play started. Meriweather plays tough . . . and he should leave it at that. The reason NE lost today is the offense. I will take 17 points in four quarters EVERY TIME. That is a top five defense on most seasons. NE didn't move the ball AT ALL in the second half. That is inexcusable. The defense came up with HUGE stops in that game, but you can only rely on a defense so many times before the opponent figures something out. Part of this has something to do with Light leaving, because that whole drive was essentially deep-sixed as they went into some wierd protection mode, and ran the ball every time. No the defense didn't have its best day, but being realistic, when your offense can only score 17 points, you shouldn't expect to win. You can hope, but if you expect you are going to be let down often. Posted by zbellino

I think it was a bit more than the defense "not having it's best day." Fact is - our D gave up 90 and 98 yard TD drives. Now, I'll agree TB and the offense stunk in the second half, but to dismiss the pathetic play of the D in the 2nd half is folly. At the end of the day, we didn't stop 'em. Also, that missed FG, usually a gimme, absolutely killed us in the end. Coin toss, bad offense - not the true cause of our demise - it was on the D, plain and simple.